Royal Family

The Linthicum-based Westinghouse Electronic Systems Group and another local company played a key role in saving the royal family of Kuwait from the Iraqi forces in August.A tethered balloon produced by Columbia-based TCOM L.P. and equipped with a radar system made by Westinghouse alerted the emir and his family to the pending invasion.Westinghouse chairman and chief executive officer Paul E. Lego yesterday cited the incident as an example of the importance of producing reliable products for customers.

Here, across the pond, many of us wonder, "What's the point?" The lead-up to and subsequent coverage of the birth of the new royal heir have cluttered news sites for a great part of the past two weeks. Reporters camped outside the hospital became so starved for news that they began to report about themselves, offering play-by-play accounts of the latest false start. Scampering about the grounds, they jumped at the smallest indication that the royal birth was indeed imminent. Finally, the royal parents-to-be arrived.

LONDON -- It was William Congreve who wrote these line that are forever being misquoted:Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned,Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.Well, maybe fury isn't the right word; determination might be closer.That describes Emma Stewardson, a horsy young woman who felt scorned by the --ing cavalry officer, Maj. James Hewitt. It was she who gave the newspapers the recent story about Major Hewitt's relationship with the Princess of Wales, warm embraces in the stables and such.

100 Years Ago Lime Green An advertisement in the Times: "Stone lime, oyster shell lime, hydrated lime, ground lime, ground lime stone, rail or water shipments: Robert S. Green, 853 Frederick Ave. Baltimore, Md. " Another ad: "THE NEAL SANATORIUM treats alcoholic cases and drug habitués with better results and in less time than any other institution in existence. For proof and information call The Neal Institute Oakland Ave and York Road 206 Courtland St. Telephone, Tuxedo or St. Paul 2564, Baltimore, MD. " 75 Years Ago Thrown throne In the Times national news section: "Americans in England: Renewed excitement has been aroused in the British isles by the discovery that yet another member of the royal family - this time it's the young duke of Kent - not only shows a regrettable tendency to enjoy himself as any normal natural, healthy youngster might, but, what is even more distressing, has lately been seen in the company of an American woman.

THE INTO-the-past orientation of this new TV season continues tonight as Redd Foxx shows up in the rearview mirror.This is not some new, improved Redd Foxx. This is not a sudden discovery of overlooked dramatic talent hidden by years of stereotyped comedy.No, this is the same old Redd Foxx, actually a bit older. If you liked him in "Sanford & Son," you'll probably like him in "Royal Family," his new CBS comedy that premieres tonight at 8 o'clock on Channel 11 (WBAL).He's still gruff and rough and full of bile, this time spouting all sorts of allegedly humorous euphemisms for the bad words he wants to use.The reason he can't use them is not only that he's on television, but also that he's in an 8 o'clock time period.

By David Zurawik and David Zurawik,Sun Television Critic | September 18, 1991

"The Royal Family" is a royal mess.It's a show with regressive fat jokes and double-entendre sex talk scheduled at 8 o'clock when children are watching. It's a show that pretends to be blue-collar, but has no real sense of anyone ever scraping to make a mortgage payment or ends meet. It's a show that will be gone from the schedule in six weeks -- if we are lucky.Premiering tonight at 8 on WBAL-TV (Channel 11), "The Royal Family" is basically Redd Foxx reprising cranky Fred Sanford -- minus the junkyard, plus another generation of family.

When an unhappy young woman locked in a loveless marriage tries and fails six times to commit suicide, it is reasonable to conclude that she is incompetent, frivolous or desperate. And if it is true that Diana, Princess of Wales, failed repeatedly to end her wretched if lavish life, she may at least have delivered a mortal blow to the increasingly rickety royal family she aspired to join.Britain's version of the social contract is tottering before our eyes. In return for our deference, a royal yacht, palaces and endless tax-free wealth, the British crown is supposed to provide something.

MUCH HAS BEEN MADE of the story or leak or trial balloon that the British royal family is studying reforms calculated to bring it into modern life and greater favor with the British people. But none of the reported proposals is for the House of Windsor to decide. In Britain, the elected House of Commons is really sovereign. The political establishment decides the place and role of the monarchy, not vice versa.The next election is expected to put the Labor Party back in power. While it is the repository of what republican sentiments exist, Labor has been respectful of the monarch when in power.

LONDON - If Jerry Springer were looking in England for topics for his show, he'd find his best material these days not in the haunts of the economically deprived, but in the regal hallways - and apparently the bedrooms - of Buckingham Palace. "My Ex Had Sex In Front Of The Queen Mum!" "I'm Here To Break Up With My Royal Servant!" "The Butler Did It - Against Me Will!" It's been that kind of month for the royals. Driven by a newspaper war being fought with ferocious firepower, allegation after muddy allegation has been splattered against the walls of the palace, the royal family and its staff.

KUWAIT CITY -- The crown prince of Kuwait returned in flowing gold-trimmed robes yesterday to a city still dark and staggered by the war, and to a forbidding political task.The ruling family of Kuwait must stitch together a new government, and in many ways a new society. They must satisfy insistent demands for democracy while also lessening the dependence on minorities who now are suspect from the war.Sheik Saad al-Abdullah al-Sabah fell to his knees in prayer on his arrival in a C-130 from Saudi Arabia yesterday.

Friday mornings at 4 a.m. generally find me asleep, but this week I'll be among the thousands of Anglophiles glued to my television for the "wedding of the century. " At 25, I've spent the better part of my adult life either in Europe or wishing I was in Europe. I went to grad school in London and cut my teeth on all things British during my junior year at Goucher College, which I spent at Oxford University. There, I learned to raise my glass to the Queen, and when she came to dine at Christ Church College (in the very same hall that served as the model for Harry Potter)

King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, 88, a towering figure in Tonga for four decades, has died in a New Zealand hospital, the tiny Pacific Island nation announced yesterday. His death ended one of the world's longest reigns by a monarch in modern times. He ruled for 41 years. King Toupou IV died after a long, unspecified illness in a hospital where he had spent most of the past several months, plunging the remote country into a mourning period expected to last months, the Tongan government said.

LONDON -- Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, slim, soft-spoken and with a worldly air that is right at home here in an elegant drawing room of an old money West End hotel, is the personification of what outsiders increasingly refer to as Dubai Inc. So he sees no reason why Dubai, where he serves as one of the royal family's most trusted financial advisers, should not be accepted as a full-fledged and legitimate player on the global business stage. But that has not stopped the emirate's rapidly expanding business empire from coming under scrutiny, as a group of Washington lawmakers asked the White House Thursday to re-examine Dubai's most recent deal, the $6.8 billion acquisition of Britain's Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation by state-owned Dubai Ports World.

CAIRO, Egypt - In a region that is increasingly defined by instability, the Saudi royal family moved promptly and assuredly yesterday to project an image of certainty, for the benefit of both domestic and international stability. At the same time that it was announced that King Fahd had died, Crown Prince Abdullah was declared the new monarch, and the Saudi defense minister, Prince Sultan, was named the new crown prince. Within three days of the announcement, a funeral and ceremony to declare loyalty to the new king is to be completed.

LONDON - Prince William graduated with honors from St. Andrews University in Scotland yesterday in a traditional ceremony attended by his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, and father, Prince Charles. One of only three British royals in recent history to graduate from university, the 23-year-old prince earned a Scottish master's degree, the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor's degree, in geography after four years of study. He achieved the second-highest honors, surpassing the performance of his father and uncle, Prince Edward, who received lesser honors at Cambridge University.

GRACE KELLY and Prince Rainier of Monaco, who died last week, were your textbook royal marriage. But for a royal romance that reaches depths of profound emotion that seem almost human, give me Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles. Could it all be a brilliant PR stratagem? Years of tawdry royal shenanigans have drastically reduced the British people's interest in being patronized by the royal family. But maybe some royal functionary had the brilliant insight that patronizing this collection of odd ducks and losers can be just as effective a bond as being patronized by them.

LONDON -- The British royal family was seeking reconciliation with its subjects.But Charles, the ninth Earl Spencer, had other plans during his funeral tribute yesterday to his sister, Diana, Princess of Wales.He aimed a broadside at the royal family when he said that Diana "needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic." Diana was forced to give up the title "Her Royal Highness" after she divorced Prince Charles last year.Spencer also said that as the "blood family" of Diana's sons, Princes William and Harry, he and his two sisters pledged to continue steering the boys "so that their souls are not simply immersed by duty and tradition."

LONDON -- Acting in the face of harsh criticism from the British press and public, the royal family made its first public comment yesterday on the outpouring of grief over the death of Princess Diana and announced that the route of her funeral procession Saturday would be much longer than originally planned so more people could witness the event."

JIDDA, Saudi Arabia - The royal family of this embattled kingdom announced a one-month amnesty yesterday for Islamic insurgents, framing its offer in the language of religious redemption and hinting at harsh punishment for those who refuse. In a speech that reflected the delicate politics of confronting an Islamic uprising in a land that has in the past tried to co-opt or reform militants, Crown Prince Abdullah promised fair treatment under Islamic law for those who turn themselves in. Surrendering insurgents would be spared the death penalty, said the crown prince, the kingdom's de facto ruler, who spoke on behalf of ailing King Fahd.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - This kingdom's riches, fueled by the largest oil reserves in the world, are almost beyond dreaming. Dozens of palaces are under construction here. Even the average businessman is likely to have a huge home with silk draperies, secluded fountains and crystal chandeliers. Malls are stocked with imported designer fashions. When ailing King Fahd vacationed in Spain last year, he took 50 black Mercedes, 350 attendants and a 234-foot yacht, and had $2,000 worth of flowers and 50 cakes delivered each day. But for an increasing number of citizens, that Saudi Arabia is a land of fable and memory.